


ab aeterno

by Anukutti



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 999 - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Fix-It, Gen, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Other, Time Travel Fix-It, tw: medical violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:04:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21349132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anukutti/pseuds/Anukutti
Summary: Aulea Lucis Caelum singlehandedly wrecks everything (and it's fine.)
Relationships: Aulea Lucis Caelum & Clarus Amicitia, Aulea Lucis Caelum & Gladiolus Amicitia, Aulea Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia, Aulea Lucis Caelum & Noctis Lucis Caelum, Aulea Lucis Caelum/Regis Lucis Caelum, Cor Leonis & Aulea Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum & Aulea Lucis Caelum
Comments: 7
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> tw for medical violence in here

The birth of an entire child is never an easy task for anyone involved. For Aulea specifically, it was extraordinarily difficult — not only because she was the mother, but because she was also giving birth to the next heir to the Lucian throne.

As she lay in the hospital bed, alone in her head and exhausted, she looked back on the little moments of her life. Working in her mother’s shop. Helping her father clean his tools at the end of the day. Her brothers teasing her relentlessly for managing to befriend the young Prince, her sister warning her nothing good would come of it.

The boy she knew then was a very different person now, she thought as he entered the room with their child, breaking her reverie. What would her siblings think, if they were to look at the King and see the way his eyes crinkled as he said “_It’s a boy!_” Would they still mock her for her childhood feelings if they knew what her son looked like, all pink skin and dark hair and soft cheeks, swaddled in grey cloth, sound asleep?

She took him, and held him, as close to her heart as she could possibly bring him, and smiled. “_Noctis,_” she said on an exhale.

“Is that the name you’ve picked?” Regis sat down, holding the arm of the hospital bed as he leaned over. Noctis stirred in his sleep, but he didn’t wake.

“He’s quite a heavy sleeper, isn’t he? Surely he’d come to love the night.”

Regis laughed. “Well, according to royal naming traditions, we’re not supposed to _really_ pick anything out until next month during the naming ceremony, but—”

“When have I ever been one for tradition?” She finished for him. “Noctis is his name. I can’t imagine anything else suiting a boy like him.”

“A boy like him? I mean, we’ve only known him for the better part of one hour, but since you’ve always been such a good judge of character, I’ll take your word for it.” Regis leans back and gets up out of his chair.

“Since when have I suddenly been ‘always such a good judge of character?’”

“Well, you married me, didn’t you?”

Aulea burst out laughing. “My point exactly, _Your Highness_.”

Regis bloomed red, but he still smiled. “All right, all right. I’ll admit I set myself up for that. If you’ll excuse me, however, I need to discuss with Clarus your guarding arrangements.”

Aulea cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you had gone over that weeks ago? At least, you were so panicked about my well-being, I had assumed you would’ve covered that months ago.”

“Well, yes,” he started. “But a number of the Glaives assigned to your personal guard have been taking unofficial time off work, and are no longer deemed fit for this level of duty. Verbatim from Clarus.”

“Getting demoted for playing hooky? Oh, for the love of Shiva, of _all_the things they could have been in trouble for, and it’s for skipping school like middle schoolers?”

Regis rolled his eyes. “I told Clarus I knew you would say something to that effect, and I was right. In any case, I’ll only be a moment’s walk away if you need anything. You have the panic button at your side should the occasion arise, Bahamut forbid, and—”

“Regis, I’ll be fine,” she said, cradling her son closer as he started to whine. “You can go; I think Noctis is getting hungry, anyway.”

“Alright.” He paused in the doorway. “I love you.”

Aulea smiled. “I love you, too. Now, _go_. Hurry up and fix the station arrangements.”

* * *

On the second day of her stay at the hospital, every life choice she’d ever made came back to bite her.

Noctis was away in the neonatal care unit — nothing serious, but just being away from him for so long was almost painful, and Aulea found herself counting the seconds until she could get her baby boy back. Or at the very least, until someone came to be with her. It was one thing to feel the distance between her and her child, but it was another thing entirely to feel it alone.

She closed her eyes to count garulas, hoping sleep might pass the time faster for her, when the door opened, and in walked a nurse with a clipboard, seemingly not even seeing Aulea.

“Excuse me?” She asked. The nurse didn’t even turn to her, just rifled through the cabinets to find whatever it was that had him so stone-faced. “Do you know when I can get my son back?”

The nurse seemed to have found what he wanted — a syringe — as he turned back to her. “Your son?” He asked. “Oh, don’t worry. You won’t have to wait particularly long.”

Aulea didn’t like that. Not because of the answer itself, but because of the way the nurse said it. Something wasn’t right. “Do you… happen to know how long that might be?”

“Not really, no.” He grasped her upper arm and exposed the underside of it. “You’ll have to ask someone else. For now, I just need to run a little blood test — you know, for post-pregnancy complications and the like.” He smiled, all teeth and no warmth, and stuck the needle in with no tact into her arm.

“Ah! Fuck, warn me next time and — hey, aren’t you supposed to ask me to clench? You know, to get a better view of the blood vessel?” Panic was beginning to set in, but she couldn’t tell if she was being reasonable — after all, this was a nurse, and he probably knew more about the medical specifics than she did.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness, I know what I’m doing. In fact,” he said as he pulled away from her, holding a completely empty syringe, “I think I know what I’m doing better than I had expected. Old habits die hard, I’m afraid.”

She looked at her arm. “What— I thought you were drawing blood?”

“No, dear. I was checking for post-pregnancy complications. You know, things like air embolisms after pregnancy, due to tearing during labor. The doctors here don’t have the technology necessary for determining whether such a thing was really from pregnancy, or,” he said as he tossed the needle into the trash, “whether it’s from a disgruntled nurse tired of dealing with a plebe disguised as a royal.”

The blood that was rushing in her ears seem to freeze. Her hand moved to hover over the panic button, but her assailant only tutted at her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’d rather not deal with guards, and I’d hate if your precious Noctis were to meet… a similar fate.”

“Don’t you _dare_ touch my son, or so help me—”

The nurse (was he truly a nurse?) laughed in her face. “Don’t worry, dear Aulea. I have no interest in him, at least not if you don’t call attention, and simply accept your fate as it is.” He leaned in close to her face and whispered. “We all know why King Mors ever allowed a Prince to wed a filthy plebe from the streets of Insomnia. It wasn’t because he was a benevolent king with a willingness to let his son marry who his heart desired, oh no.”

Aulea narrowed her eyes as he spoke. Then, she sank back into her bed. If there truly is no other way without hurting Noctis than to die like this, so be it. She would accept her current fate — but not without fighting back. Not without even trying to see her son one last time.

“That’s alright.” Her words startled the nurse into silence. “I’ll die. But you and I both know why you want me dead, and I refuse to lie down quietly, without having used that against you.” She closed her eyes and exhaled, and suddenly, everything turned to darkness.

* * *

When the queen’s eyes closed, he knew he only had a limited amount of time to leave before he got caught — not that him being caught would really matter, in the grand scheme of things. He could just as easily escape and do over again.

Once he was far away enough to retain plausible deniability, he activated a code blue on his pager and disappeared from the hospital entirely, the rising chorus of panic in the background muted from his ears.

* * *

_My neck is freezing,_ was the first thought to cross Aulea’s mind, before she shot up out of her sleep.

Blinking the exhaustion from her eyes, she took a look at her current setting. Stone cold floor, stone walls, a small barred window behind her, and stairs descending out into the night.

“What…” she mumbled to herself as she grasped the walls to hoist herself up. Cradling her sore neck and staggering down the stairs, she wondered how in the world she went from her comfortable bed to the unforgiving floor of a … cave, from the looks of it. In front of her was a sorry excuse for a shoreline that met a churning black sea, ice cold as it lapped at her bare toes.

In fact, everything was cold. Presumably it was late at night, considering how dark it was, and the winds did nothing to help her. She was still in non-maternity royal raiment, even though she could have sworn she had grown out of it three months into her pregnancy, and the delicate gossamer sleeves gave no protection against the weather.

“For crying out loud … where do I go from here? Ah,” she faltered as she spotted a dock off in the distance, with a tiny hut-like construction next to it. Conveniently, an abandoned boat was apparently discarded on this tiny little shore, so Aulea made the most of her situation and carefully climbed into the boat.

The sea, despite it appearing tumultuous at first, was gentle enough that it posed almost no problem for her, and she reached the dock uneventfully.

Climbing out of the boat, she called out, “Hello?” And received no answer. She gathered the folds of her raiment and ran up the dock, still calling out for people who were no longer there.

The tonberries that hid behind the countertop of a long-decrepit kitchen scurried away when she leaned over to look at them, and the imps that spawned from under the floorboards seemed to hold more interest in hitting the broken remains of pots that once held scores of flowers than in pursuing her. She pushed on, hoping someone would come out and explain to her just what was going on, and in simple terms, please, because she’s already having enough trouble understanding what’s going on right in front of her as it is, thank you very much.

At the end of it all, after staggering up past a sign read “_Galdin Quay!_” and reaching the road, she thanked every Astral that was listening for her luck, because the bright lights of a car came down from the hill in the distance.

When it slowed to a stop in front of her, she knocked on the window, and when it rolled down far enough for her to put her hands through it, she nearly threw herself through the window and began to talk.

“Thank _Etro_ you came here, because you would _not_ believe the last forty five minutes that I’ve just had, since—” She finally lifted her head to get a better look at the driver, and — “Clarus?”


	2. de futuro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a run in, #1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for a late as FUCK chapter, i just. suck at writing LMFAOOOO

This wasn’t Clarus, that was for sure. Clarus would not throw himself across a car console and out of the car through the passenger seat door when the driver’s seat door was right next to him. Clarus would also certainly not pin her down with his broadsword buried in the dirt beside her head. And Clarus would most _ definitely _ recognize who she was, and not growl out “Who the hell are you, and what have you got to do with him?”

“I- I-” She was scared, but for only a brief moment, because what kind of queen would let her fear get the best of her? “I don’t know who you are, or what _ you _ have to do with the Shield, but I order you to unhand me at once, lest you lose your organs by my hand.” She pushed with all her might on the man’s broad chest, but she got the feeling that he moved not because of her strength, but because he thought she didn’t pose a threat. As miffed as the thought made her, at least now she could speak to him on somewhat equal terms.

“The Shield, huh?” He sat back on the grass and leaned against his car, which was still running. “What rock have you been living under?”

“What do you mean?”

He huffed, like he was trying to laugh. “Well, you know-”

“I don’t,” she interrupted him. “I don’t know. I awoke on that island far out in the sea, with no memory of how I got there, or knowledge of where I am right now. All I know is, I was with my husband - the King, as you may know him - and I was getting ready for labor with my first child, and that’s where everything stops and my time here begins.” Her nostrils flared as she watched him watch her with careful eyes. “So I am asking you, with all the grace I am capable of mustering right this moment, to please explain where I am. And who you are. And, if you’d be so generous, help me get back to my hospital.”

He was silent for a long moment, then got up. “I’m still not sure who you are,” he mumbled. “But get in the car. And then we’ll talk.”

Aulea stood up after him and sat in the passenger seat. Didn’t know who she was? Well, she certainly wasn’t close to Insomnia, that’s for sure. But the structures all seem so familiar...

“Is this place by any chance named Galdin Quay?”

“What, the big ass sign by the parking lot not big enough for ya?” He smiled in her direction, and she crumpled her nose in embarrassment.

“Don’t you make a fool of me, young man - remember, I’m the one with amnesia!”

“Yeah, yeah.” He drove in silence. “I get the feeling you don’t really have the right to call me ‘young man’ though. I’m thirty-three.”

Aulea hummed. “You’re right. I’m twenty-eight, but I guarantee you I have seniority.”

He barked out a laugh. “Sure ya do. Said you were wife of the King? That’d make you the Queen, huh? That’s definitely senior.” Something about the way he said it, though, made Aulea feel as though he wasn’t taking her seriously. She didn’t really like that.

After a period of silence, she spoke. “So, what do you actually have to do with the Shield?”

He side-eyed her. “You really don’t know? What time are you stuck in, lady?”

She chose to ignore him addressing her with no respect. “M.E. 735. You know. This year.” She rolled her eyes, as petulant as that made her feel.

This time, he turned his whole head towards her. “What? 735?”

“Was I unclear? Unless-”

“No, no,” he said, turning his eyes back on the road. “735 it is.”

It didn’t sit right with her.

There was silence again, and she took the opportunity to clear her head and create a plan of action. She’d tell him to bring her to the nearest well-populated town. She’d get herself some proper shoes, possibly some less impractical clothes, get herself something to eat. 

She got the idea that right now, she was no longer eating for two - and as miserable as the though made her, she steeled herself. She couldn’t afford to be vulnerable right now, of all times.

“Where’s the nearest populated city?” She spoke quietly.

“Lestallum,” the man grunted out.

“Lestallum?!” She turned, nearly throwing herself over the console and causing the car to swerve somewhat. “But- But that’s another four hours from here by car, five in this one! Are neither Longwythe nor Hammerhead populated at all?”

“No.”

And that was the end of that. Aulea knew when it was better to remain silent than to push it. Clearly, she had been dropped into a time of great struggle for Lucis, given the daemons everywhere, and the closest civilization being almost half a day away by car. Had she been put here to fulfill some sort of job? Save the world? Help someone else save the world?

She’d rather not be in charge of saving the world. In fact, she’d rather ensure her child were safe _ first _, and then maybe she’d consider the rest of the world. But that was a can of worms to open for later.

* * *

Lestallum was dim. The lights were on, yes, but that didn’t help when it was merely a candle swaying in the void.

There were people, however, so that was one good thing. Little kids running around with homemade paper toys, fathers carrying young children in one arm and the week’s worth of groceries in the other. It was a bit more crowded and somewhat dirtier than she had remembered, but such is the way it goes with large cities.

She stood close to the back of her guide - who’s name she still hadn’t caught yet, she realized - and followed him until they reached a small office tucked away in the corner of a plaza. He looked at her, then opened the door and stepped inside.

A waiting room. It was a doctor’s office. There were about ten or eleven plastic chairs, all worn down and a bit dirty. Three or four people were already sitting there in various states of injury, only eyeing Aulea for a moment before returning back into their own space.

“Have you brought me here to treat my injuries? I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t have any-”

“Yes, you do,” said the man. “735? There’s something genuinely wrong with your head. This is M.E. 763.”

Her heart sank.

“There’s no good reason for you to think we’re almost thirty years in the past - other than you were hit in the head extremely hard, and you either were in a coma for 28 years on an island all alone, or it knocked all the memories from the past three decades out of your head, both of which require extensive medical attention, and _ now _.”

Shocked, Aulea could only nod numbly. Twenty eight years? Would any of the people she knew back then even recognize her? Would they be dead?

Do they think that _ she’s _ dead?

She delicately sat down in the closest chair and folded her hands in her lap. The man just stood next to her, arms folded. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, truly at a loss for words for the first time in years.

_ At least twenty-eight years, _ she thought bitterly. _ Well, at least I should ask what’s happened in those twenty-eight years. _

“Wonderin’ what’s happened since you last woke up?” The man asked gruffly. Aulea was startled for only a moment, then steeled herself and nodded.

“You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth. Please, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“Right. Well, twenty-eight years ago would put you … right at the birth of Prince Noctis.”

Her heart fluttered - it couldn’t be, could it? No, there weren’t many other princes being born at that time, it could only have been her son. _ Noctis. _

“Shortly afterwards, Queen Aulea died of pregnancy complications, and Noctis had to live without his mom. I guess it was a good thing he was so young, so he couldn’t remember losing her, but… well, anyways. Niflheim gained a shitload of territory, and Lucis was forced to sign a bullshit peace treaty that gave up everything outside of Insomnia’s walls to the Empire - not that it went through, in any case, because Niflheim bombed the capital during the signing, killing both King Regis and… and his Shield. Clarus. You knew him? Hey-” he balked when he looked up, because Aulea’s eyes were shining, forcing herself to hold back tears.

_ How much have I missed? My son’s childhood, the death of my husband and best friend… _

“Yes, I- We were close friends, you could say.”

“Really?” He scoffed. “Never really heard him mention anything about a lady like you - but he wasn’t exactly an open book, per se.”

Aulea laughed, bittersweet. “Yes, you could say that.” She shook her head. “Please, continue?”

“Sure. Anyways, luckily the prince wasn’t in Insomnia, but it’s not like he’s really fine now. I mean,” he added, when he saw Aulea stiffen up in panic, “It’s not like he’s hurt or anything. He got, uh… consumed. I guess, by the crystal.”

“Consumed? Whole? How would that even work?”

“Beats me. He’s gone, though, and we’re just… just waitin’ on him to come back.”

Aulea leaned forward and put her hand atop his. “He’s a Lucis Caelum. He’ll come back.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been eight years, and we’re still waitin’. Not sure how much longer we can hold out for him.”

She withdrew her hand. “Eight?”

“The entire time, the sun’s never come up.”

“_ Never?! _”

“Woah, lower your voice,” he said. She looked around, and finally noticed the other patients staring at her like she’d sprouted a fifth head.

She grimaced. “Sorry.” She turned back to him. “Never? Not once in eight years?”

“Nope. It’s half past noon right now.”

Aulea whipped around to peer through the window. “But it’s so dark! What about the daemons? How does one deal with those things spawning everywhere?”

He smiled, and pointed to himself. “That’s where people like me come in. Hunters, traveling around and killing shit for folks who need shit killed. Daemons, beasts, you name it. That’s why I was so far away from here today - lucky I was, or else who knows what you’d’ve come across.”

Aulea smiled. “Thank you. I don’t know how I can repay you, ah-” And here she paused, and felt her face grow warm, because the entire time she had spoken to him, she never thought to ask him his name.

He simply laughed. “Gladiolus Amicitia. Shield of the King. You knew my dad, if what you said holds any water- hey, the hell d’you think you’re doing?”

She had put her hands on his cheeks, like he was a child - and in the recesses of her mind, memories were slowly dragging themselves out of the depths, images of a chubby, bright eyed baby, a tottering two year old, amber eyes and soft, curly brown hair, all bright smiles and giggles and a grip strong enough to pull hair right out of someone’s head (Aulea had personal experience with the last one.) And now here he sat, older and scarred, but the eyes were simply _ unmistakable _.

“Dahlia’s son. Gladiolus. Astrals,” she breathed. The more she searched his face, the more she grew frustrated with herself for not realizing earlier. “You didn’t ask me my name.”

“You’re probably going to tell me you’re the dead queen Aulea, if you’re keeping your delusions in line,” he scoffed. “Not interested in hearing that.”

“Not interested in the truth, huh? That’s not behavior fitting the current Shield,” she bites back. “Is my royal raiment not enough? No, it wouldn’t be - I supposedly died before you were old enough to see the Queen’s raiment, right?” She reaches for her dagger. “Would Regis’ crest on my weapon suffice? It’s decorative, but it should do the job.”

Black, engraved, with gilded embossed designs and the unmistakable Royal crest - specifically Regis’, and one that was illegal to recreate outside of official government business.

Gladio gently took it out of her hand, and observed it carefully. “It’s genuine, gold and obsidian, everything. So you stole from a dead-”

In a flash of electric blue, the dagger disappeared out of Gladio’s hand and reappeared into Aulea’s. When he looked up at her, the hard lines of fury were engraved into her face.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t accuse me of committing a disgusting crime, thank you very much.” She resheathed her dagger. “Is my use of the Armiger still not enough?”

“I- no. No, it’s.” He faltered. He seemed to take great care in looking at her arms, mumbling to himself. “You’re not built like a ‘glaive or a ‘guard, and they’re the only ones outside of the Royal family that get Armiger access.” He exhales, slow but shaky. “Okay. Okay. Our first priority is to get you somewhere more secure. Can’t be discussing sensitive matters like this with other people around. Come on.”

Aulea realized she had forgotten yet again that she was in a public doctor’s office, and sheepishly allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and escorted out.

“I have an apartment, down that street, on the third floor of the tallest building.” He walks quickly, leaving her to scurry after him on the stone pathways, still barefoot. “We can get you some new clothes - you look about my sister’s size, and she won’t mind - and, gods, you have no shoes. We’ll see if my sister’s old boots don’t fit you. Hurry!”

“What are we hurrying for?! Can’t we slow down a bit? The stone pathways are too strenuous on my feet.”

“I’ve got people expecting me, other hunters, and I’m already running late because of you.” Although Auelea may have flinched at that, she still sensed no malice towards her in his words. “If they see you and ask too many questions, who knows what they’ll do if they find out you’re royal - Queen Aulea, at that. Damn,” Gladiolus shook his head. “Still can’t really wrap my head around it, ya know? I remember going to your funeral.”

He pauses, only to go up a set of stairs leading up into a poorly lit, dank stairwell. “Saw your picture in the frame with the flower garland and everything. Laid offerings in front of your casket. I think my mom was the one who lit the first incense stick, actually.”

“I wouldn’t have asked for anyone else to do that in my honor. Well, ideally, I wouldn’t die so early in the _ first _place, but that’s a separate issue.”

Gladio snorts. “We’re here.” He unlocks the door in front of him, a red one with fading paint that revealed the wood beneath. “Get in there - the closet in the back has all my sister’s clothes, help yourself. Oh, and try not to wear stuff with Crownsguard insignias on it? People’ll start asking questions they’re not ready to hear the answers to yet.” With that, he promptly turns on his heel and heads back out the door that he hadn’t even closed yet. “Please, Your Highness, stay here for the time being until I come back, and _ please _do not open the door.”

“Of course I will, Gladiolus.” She smiled warmly at him, and he smiled back, waved, and shut the door behind him, leaving Aulea alone with her thoughts.

“Well,” she spoke aloud to no one in particular. “I should probably get dressed, shouldn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :,333 sorry for only 2k hjsdfkjhgdfslk ill give u guys a longer chapter next time :,3

**Author's Note:**

> this is bc i saw a kinkmeme (https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4113.html?thread=6110993#cmt6110993) and also because i want aulea to have more fucking recognition goddamn it square you cowards let me see her


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